Neonatal Nurse Job Responsibilities

Neonatal Nurse Job Responsibilities

Many babies are born sick and suffer from problems like prematurity, birth defects, infection, cardiac malformations, and surgery. Neonatal nursing is a specialty of nursing where the nurses are trained to care for such babies. Though most of the neonatal care ends in the first few months of a baby’s life, some kids need to be taken care of for about two years as well.

Neonatal nurses are trained to care for infants from the time of birth until the doctors certify them fit to be discharged from the hospital. These nurses also help new parents to understand how they need to handle a child.

Neonatal Nurse Job Responsibilities:

  • Be aware of the working and functioning of machinery like ventilators and incubators. Many babies need to be connected to such machinery right after birth so that their lives can be saved. That is why these neonatal nurses must know how to operate them.
  • Be able to administer drugs in the right dosage to the babies. Doctors will prescribe drugs and they will expect the nurses to administer these drugs carefully. That is why the nurses need to be careful about the medicines that are being given and also the amount that is being given because disparity in prescription and dosage may take a toll on the life of the babies.
  • They must be qualified to draw blood from kids for tests.
  • The nurses are expected to handle the babies in nurseries, clean them and keep them safe.
  • It is also necessary for the nurses to have good communication skills so that they are able to talk to the families of the patient (in this case, babies) and tell them what is exactly going on. They need to comfort the families and not let them be agitated.

Category: Nursing Job Responsibilities